Interview with Kchlab the developer of Stack AR

Our interview with Kchlab, the developer of Stack AR

As usual, we were not hired or paid to feature this game. If it’s bad, we’ll tell you it’s bad.

Are you a fan of all things “Cool”, “New” and “Exciting!?” If so, today we’ve got both a game and an interview you won’t want to miss! For players who owned a smartphone back in 2016, there is a 98.7% chance you came across a game by the name of Stack at some point in time.

As of 1 October 2017 Stack has been downloaded approximately 50,000,000 times on Android, and who knows how many more times on iOS. It is an understatement to say that this game is popular.

Today, we would like to share our first ever interview with the developer of this truly astonishing game. Before we start we’d like to thank Kchlab for participating in our interview and for answering all of our geeky questions! Thank you!

…and without further ado, our interview begins…

The Interview

First up, how did you come up with the initial idea for both Stack and Stack AR?

Well, before I made Stack, I had prototyped many games. All the projects were dropped except Stack. The idea didn’t come to me like a spark, I had just tried to make any forms of game logic, as many as possible, until I got a good one.

But the design was a different story. I already had the design before I got the idea. I am obsessed with colors. I just love them.😃 Any combination of colors gives you a unique and delicate impression. It is like “sweet sorrow”, ya, right, very subtle and unique. So I always wanted to make a game in which colors perform the main role. I knew Stack fit the profile.

You could hardly have owned a smartphone in 2016 without coming across Stack at some point in time… What do you think it was about Stack that made it so popular?

Obviously, I got lucky that I met a good partner “Ketchapp”. As you know, Ketchapp is one of the best publishers when it comes to casual games. “Network effect” is a critical key for a casual game like Stack. You gotta admit that, at least once, you got a game which was not your thing at first, but everybody else was playing it, and later on, you found yourself addicted to it, right? 😃 Simply saying, Ketchapp made it all happen.

Ok, now we get to Stack AR.
How difficult was it to recreate Stack to work in the real world?

Stack AR is created based on ARKit. Which means that Apple and Unity provide all the tools I need. So, it was not that hard to make it work. But making it work and making it work “gracefully” are different. The hardest part was UI flow design, like how to initiate AR, how to handle interruptions, and so on. Since ARKit is a new thing, there is no standard reference for UI flow. Keeping the flow simple was the most difficult process.

Ok, now for some geeky questions. What programming language and or software did you use when creating Stack AR?

I use Unity + C#. There is nothing more to say. Unity is your friend. 😉

Where do you get your inspiration or ideas from?

I observe. You see, the idea of “Crossy Road” has always been around us. Crossing roads is what you probably do every day. Stacking things up is also what you do without thinking. I observe what people do for everyday-routine things and try to make a game out of it.

And, of course, I try to play every new game that comes out and masterpieces to get inspiration. I try to analyze the fun factor of games. Sometimes I don’t get it, why is this game so popular?. In that case, I discuss with my dev friends until it all makes sense. I have been doing this process for years, it is very clear to me that if some game is popular, there is a reason.

2 questions from our fans! 😆

A question from a reader named Hunter: “Is there a limit on how high your tower can get in Stack AR?”

There is no limit in the real world, but, theoretically, your phone won’t be able to render like billions of blocks. 😃

A question from a reader named Amanda: “I suck at both Stack and Stack AR. Is there a secret to playing any better?”

haha. 😃 There is no secret. Even I suck at the game. Whenever I see the best records on Game Center/Google Play, I realize how far humans can achieve. Some people are just gifted. For me, it doesn’t matter how good at it I am, I just enjoy the colors and shapes of the stack towers.

Lastly a few words on how you feel about Edamame Reviews and our service.

What you are doing is very nice for us, I mean, indie developers. We don’t get enough attention since many of us don’t know how to promote our game/apps. I think it is also good for readers who want to get decent reviews. Thanks for that.

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